Apathetic
by Fantasie in D Minor
Summary: Perhaps calling the redhead coldhearted is a tad of an exageration on his simple inability to be sentimental. Inability or lack of desire?


**Disclaimer: **I do not own KH or any of the sequels.

**Intro: **This will be a collection of one-shots revolving around Axel's and Kairi's interactions. Whatever interesting idea comes to mind, I'll put to the test with these two colorful characters.

**Procrastination **

Fate is a cruel hag. He had a few rather unfortunate experiences to prove that conjecture, but not in his most horrifying nightmares did he imagine himself in the predicament he was currently in. With the weak rays of the setting sun saturating the color of his hair, the sea gently murmuring unintelligible secrets, and Pluto's insistent barking followed by Kairi's occasional stifled giggles behind him, Axel was in his own personal inferno. The blissful atmosphere of Destiny Islands can certainly be appealing, but it looses that momentary draw after a certain while. Actually, Axel can't really say he was much _drawn _to the world to begin with. His being at the accursed spot in the first place had nothing to do with his own wishes.

Perhaps at this moment it would be beneficial to tell the reader exactly _why _the red-head was sullenly frying under the summer sun instead of _sleeping _(a verb which couldn't be used to describe any of his actions in the past forty-eight hours) in his beloved room. Actually, the explanation is rather simple; it consists of one word…or one name to be exact: Saix. The man shows up at the most inopportune moments, and Axel had the unfortunate experience of finding that out first hand. A moment before the red-head could get that elusive thing called sleep, Saix unceremoniously walks into the young man's room and with the usual calm tells Axel (the half-dead Axel) that he requires the red-head's help. Of course, 'requires help' translates into a rather nice 'do it or else...'

Apparently, Axel would have to kidnap this girl Kairi to lure in Sora. Under normal circumstances, the red-head would have thrown such a lowly assignment in Saix' face, but if Sora was at the castle that meant…maybe he, Axel, could see Roxas. Axel slapped his forehead lightly with one gloved hand; a bitter expression finding it's way onto the young man's face. He knew as well as anyone that nothing of the sort was going to happen. Sora wasn't going to turn into a Heartless all of a sudden; it was a nice dream, though.

As fun as dreaming was, however, the 'lowly assignment' was still to be done. He still needed to drag that girl to the World that Never Was. He glanced over his shoulder at the oblivious teenager and the happily bouncing dog. Why did Pluto follow him anyway? This whole ordeal was supposed to be painless and quick, but things never went the red-head's way. Pluto got the girl's attention; the next thing Axel knew, he was staring into two imploring, blue eyes, and the owner was asking him whether or not she could play with his dog. _'And why did I decide to grow a heart all of a sudden?' _The young man asked himself with an ironically pensive look to his handsome face. Heart or not, Axel couldn't resist and gave Kairi his permission to play with the pup.

That was almost an hour ago! All this time the poor red-head was stuck sitting on the sand in front of the crashing waves of the sea. Not that Axel minded the scenery for the first fifteen minutes. After twenty he got bored. After thirty he became annoyed. After forty-five he was just about ready to complete his mission, but he simply couldn't bring himself to do it. And so passed another fifteen minutes before he heard a timid voice hovering right above his head.

"I'm so sorry, sir. I must have lost track of time." Axel lifted his head slowly to gaze into the, already, familiar pools of blue staring back at him.

"Not a problem, kid." She grimaced lightly at the nickname, but didn't protest. Kairi gave the black-clad man a sheepish grin and took a seat next to him letting Pluto settle in her lap.

"Not in a hurry?" She asked with an amount of curiosity present in her voice.

"Not in any particular one, no." Axel's twisted reply made the blue-eyed teenager perk up and raise an inquisitive eyebrow. Axel rolled his eyes and waved her off in a manner that quite clearly transmitted the message that it was none of her business. With a shrug and a small grin she was back on her feet and walking towards the shore line. Axel regarded her motions with no particular interest until she crouched over something as if examining the object with great amount of care.

Curiosity got the better of him and with a light groan at his protesting muscles he walked over to the _interesting _spot, which contained nothing but sand. With a bewildered look he opened his mouth to ask Kairi about her strange obsession, but was rather rudely cut off by a mouthful of salt water. All he had as a notification about his soon to be contact with the sea was a light tug that he felt on his gloved hand.

Axel got his head above sea level to a chorus of Kairi's giggles. Even Pluto seemed to be smirking at the, curtsey of Kairi, soaking red-head. He gave the girl a nasty glare and examined his less than graceful appearance. The teenager's amused, blue eyes were merrily glinting with the satisfied glitter of 'revenge.' _'That's probably for the 'kid' comment.' _Axel realized.

"You, my bratty friend, are beyond dead." He grounded out, trying to grab Kairi's hand and drag her into the water. He wasn't going to be the only one suffering. That attempt, however, didn't exactly work as planned. Pulled down by the weight of his baggy, and now wet, clothes, Axel felt himself trip and sink back under water. When he hit the surface again and took a gulp of much needed oxygen, he could feel his lips slowly break into a grin at the absurdity of the situation. It took all his self-control to keep from joining Kairi's ceaseless laughter.

He knew what had to be done. He knew he'd have to bring her to the World that Never Was sooner or later. Yet, against his better judgment he decided that today simply wasn't the day for it. Axel was always a procrastinator; it wouldn't be befitting of his character to break that particular habit of his.

**Author's Note: **Thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed!


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